The implications of single protein detection are significant and may lay the foundation for improved medical therapeutics.
Just months after setting a record for detecting the smallest single virus in solution, researchers at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) have announced a new breakthrough: They used a nano-enhanced version of their patented microcavity biosensor to detect a single cancer marker protein, which is one-sixth the size of the smallest virus, and even smaller molecules below the mass of all known markers. This achievement shatters the previous record, setting a new benchmark for the most sensitive limit of detection, and may significantly advance early disease diagnostics. Unlike current technology, which attaches a fluorescent molecule, or label, to the antigen to allow it to be seen, the new process detects the antigen without an interfering label.
Stephen Arnold, university professor of applied physics and member of the Othmer-Jacobs Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, published details of the achievement in Nano Letters, a publication of the American Chemical Society.
In 2012, Arnold and his team were able to detect in solution the smallest known RNA virus, MS2, with a mass of 6 attograms. Now, with experimental work by postdoctoral fellow Venkata Dantham and former student David Keng, two proteins have been detected: a human cancer marker protein called Thyroglobulin, with a mass of just 1 attogram, and the bovine form of a common plasma protein, serum albumin, with a far smaller mass of 0.11 attogram. “An attogram is a millionth of a millionth of a millionth of a gram,” said Arnold, “and we believe that our new limit of detection may be smaller than 0.01 attogram.”
This latest milestone builds on a technique pioneered by Arnold and collaborators from NYU-Poly and Fordham University. In 2012, the researchers set the first sizing record by treating a novel biosensor with plasmonic gold nano-receptors, enhancing the electric field of the sensor and allowing even the smallest shifts in resonant frequency to be detected. Their plan was to design a medical diagnostic device capable of identifying a single virus particle in a point-of-care setting, without the use of special assay preparations.
At the time, the notion of detecting a single protein—phenomenally smaller than a virus—was set forth as the ultimate goal.
“Proteins run the body,” explained Arnold. “When the immune system encounters virus, it pumps out huge quantities of antibody proteins, and all cancers generate protein markers. A test capable of detecting a single protein would be the most sensitive diagnostic test imaginable.”
To the surprise of the researchers, examination of their nanoreceptor under a transmission electron microscope revealed that its gold shell surface was covered with random bumps roughly the size of a protein. Computer mapping and simulations created by Stephen Holler, once Arnold’s student and now assistant professor of physics at Fordham University, showed that these irregularities generate their own highly reactive local sensitivity field extending out several nanometers, amplifying the capabilities of the sensor far beyond original predictions. “A virus is far too large to be aided in detection by this field,” Arnold said. “Proteins are just a few nanometers across—exactly the right size to register in this space.”
The implications of single protein detection are significant and may lay the foundation for improved medical therapeutics. Among other advances, Arnold and his colleagues posit that the ability to follow a signal in real time—to actually witness the detection of a single disease marker protein and track its movement—may yield new understanding of how proteins attach to antibodies.
The Latest Bing News on:
Cancer Marker Detection
- Can dogs smell cancer in humans? 'Significant benefits' in groundbreaking studyon May 10, 2024 at 2:46 am
Like many other diseases, cancers leave specific traces or odour signatures in humans. Cancer cells, or healthy cells affected by cancer, produce and release these odour signatures. They detect ...
- Human Papillomavirus E6/E7 mRNA Testing as a Predictive Marker for Cervical Carcinomaon May 7, 2024 at 5:00 pm
In this article we give an overview of RNA-based HPV diagnostics and the role of E6/E7 mRNA detection as a predictive marker for the ... Coordinated Cervical Cancer Screening Program, financially ...
- Pancreatic Cancer Is Hard to Detect in Early Stages. A New Blood Test Could Helpon May 3, 2024 at 11:46 am
A liquid biopsy can detect 97% of stage 1 and 2 pancreatic cancer cases, according to an early clinical trial. Blood tests could help improve early detection for the deadly cancer.
- AI tool may help detect cancer in a few minutes with a drop of bloodon April 29, 2024 at 7:57 am
An AI-powered tool may be able to detect pancreatic, gastric, or colorectal cancer with a sensitivity of 82–100% and takes just a few minutes, a new study indicates.
- New blood test shows promise in early detection of ovarian canceron April 28, 2024 at 7:28 pm
Thus, CA-125 can be a more reliable marker for monitoring cancer progression and ... There is an unmet clinical need for sensitive and specific tests for early detection, staging of ovarian cancer, ...
- Breakthrough blood tests open new frontiers in cancer detectionon April 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
They operate by picking up specific cancer “signals” — biological markers like fragments of ... and the newfound ability to detect circulating DNA and other biological substances in the ...
- Biological Markers in the Diagnosis of Recurrent Bladder Cancer: An Overviewon April 15, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Over the last years, many biological markers emerged that act as an adjunct for the detection of early bladder cancer recurrence. Some of these markers had a proven better sensitivity and ...
- There’s still no standard test to detect pancreatic cancer early. Scientists are working to change thaton April 8, 2024 at 8:31 am
They used those markers to develop an approach for ... But there is no blood test that can detect early pancreatic cancer. Goel and his colleagues wrote in their abstract that their approach ...
- Study reveals breakthrough in non-invasive detection of endometrial canceron March 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Study: Detection of endometrial cancer in cervicovaginal fluid and blood ... Furthermore, three- and four-marker panels of cervicovaginal fluid and plasma proteins predicted early-stage ...
- How often you should get a cancer screening and why tumour-marker tests don't always detect canceron March 8, 2024 at 4:00 pm
And if you want to get started, do you know which tests to take in relation to cancer detection? For instance, do you really need to check the boxes for all the tumour-marker tests that add to ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Cancer Marker Detection
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Cancer Marker Detection” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Single protein detection
- How Are Nanopores Used in Protein Analysis?on May 7, 2024 at 6:23 am
Nanopores revolutionize protein analysis with single-molecule sensitivity, enabling real-time, label-free detection for advanced biomedical research.
- Cancer Supertests Are Hereon May 2, 2024 at 6:49 am
According to its website, the Menlo Park–based firm got its name because its “co-founders believed a simple blood test could be the ‘holy GRAIL’ of cancer detection.” Now the company claims that its ...
- Rise of Automation in Mass Spectrometry–Based Proteomicson May 1, 2024 at 4:54 pm
Scientists at Harvard Medical School have used technology from Opentrons Labworks to streamline sample preparation.
- How Much Protein in Chicken? Breast, Thigh and Moreon April 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Chicken comes in a variety of cuts, providing between 24 and 32 grams of protein per 100 grams, depending on the cut. All chicken is high in protein, breasts providing the highest protein count.
- PROTEINA Initiates Global Clinical Validation Project with Emory University School of Medicine, USAon April 29, 2024 at 3:25 am
PROTEINA announced today that it has held a kickoff meeting with Professor Janghee Woo and his research team at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, to begin global clinical validation of ...
- A powerful technique for tracking a protein's fleeting shape changeson April 16, 2024 at 5:01 pm
DOI: 10.1038/s41594-024-01260-3 The researchers applied their new single-molecule HS-AFM approach to a protein called Glt Ph, a "transporter" that sits in the cell membrane, directing ...
- Searching for Reliable Premortem Protein Biomarkers for Prion Diseaseson April 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Also, it is important that multiple biomarker candidates be validated in the same assay not only due to time and cost concerns, but also because a panel of biomarkers rather than a single protein ...
- Visualizing Protein Aggregates at the Single-Molecule Levelon March 26, 2024 at 12:00 am
2. Summarize how they can be visualized specifically at the single-molecule level. 3. Explain the concepts of super-resolution microscopy, and how it can be utilized for protein aggregate detection.
- Trends in Diagnostic Biochip Developmenton March 23, 2024 at 5:00 pm
There remains another problem of protein detection; major limitations relate ... To promote personalized medicine for general use, reportedly a single diagnostic biochip has to be supplied at ...
- Blood test offers non-invasive early detection of Alzheimer's diseaseon January 23, 2024 at 3:42 pm
This new test works by measuring levels of a protein known as phosphorylated tau or p-tau217 ... Design, Setting, and Participants This cohort study examined data from 3 single-center observational ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Single protein detection
[google_news title=”” keyword=”single protein detection” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]